[CTN] CTN seminar: Dr. Josh Berke, University of Michigan, Mar 26, 3.30pm in PAS 2464

[Matthijs van der Meer]

Dear all,

Please join us for next Tuesday's CTN seminar (Mar 26) by Dr. Joshua
Berke, from the University of Michigan. Title and abstract follow below.

Time and place are the usual, 3.30pm on Tuesday in PAS 2464.

If you would like to meet with Dr. Berke, and/or come to dinner
(on Tuesday evening), please let me know.

Hope to see you there,

- Matt


Dr. Joshua Berke
Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Scholar
University of Michigan

http://www.berkelab.org


No Going Back Now: Basal Ganglia Circuits in Action Selection and
Suppression.

Even when sensory cues are clear, the time taken to initiate an action
is highly variable. Much of this variability reflects the dynamically
varying state of cortical-basal ganglia networks at the time of sensory
input, including dopaminergic modulation of striatal microcircuitry. I
will discuss some recent recent results from ongoing studies of basal
ganglia function during decision-making, using electrophysiological and
voltammetric methods. Some areas of particular current interest are how
the striatum approaches a "point-of-no-return" - the non-linearity that
is the crux of a decision - and how the relative timing of activity in
distinct basal ganglia pathways can determine whether actions are
released or cancelled.